


Conkers

by carrotsblythe



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, gilbert freaks the freak out, im a sucker for a soulmate au what can i say, miss stacy ships it hard, poor anne she is sad, so does bash and mary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 04:12:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19243582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrotsblythe/pseuds/carrotsblythe
Summary: It did not matter if she ran away from him. She was his soulmate; she would always run back.





	Conkers

**Author's Note:**

> context: soulmate au where everyone has a mark somewhere on their body, the more similar the marks are the more you get along with a person, identical marks are your soulmate

The first memory that Gilbert had of soulmarks was when he was eight years old. 

 

All of the boys in the Avonlea schoolhouse were comparing their soulmarks at recess, and trying to guess which girls might match theirs. 

 

"I have a _dragon!_ " Billy Andrews boasted. "So mine is better than all of yours,"

 

"What about you, Gilbert?" Charlie Sloane, who was convinced that Diana Barry shared his apple soulmark, asked him.

 

"It's not any of those girls," he said simply. 

 

"How do _you_ know?" Billy Andrews questioned. 

 

"I just do," Gilbert replied, and Billy went back to showing the boy the dragon that breathed fire across his shoulder.

 

Gilbert looked down at his wrist, and run his finger over the tiny brown circle, which could easily be mistaken for a freckle, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a soulmark, in the shape of a conker.

 

The next time he remembered hearing soulmarks mentioned in the Avonlea schoolhouse was not until Miss Stacy taught there, although she was not in the room when he heard it. 

 

"I'm not surprised you don't have a soulmark," Josie Pye said smugly. "I don't suppose any of you dirty asylum orphans have one,"

 

"Actually, I was the only one that didn't," Anne said quietly. Josie opened her mouth to insult her again, but Diana cut in. 

 

"Don't feel bad, Anne," she said sympathetically. "I'm sure you do have one really, you just haven't found it yet. Perhaps it is very small,"

 

"I doubt it," Anne said sadly.

 

"I bet Gilbert has a red rose just like me," Ruby said dreamily. "They're the most romantic flower, you know," 

 

Anne jumped at the chance for a change of conversation. "I've always thought that lilies of the valley were the most romantic flower because-" 

 

Gilbert let his thoughts trail off there, as he concentrated on the strange feeling that had suddenly overwhelmed him.

 

Josie Pye really was a nasty girl. She had no right saying such mean things to anyone, especially to Anne. But that was not the meaning of the strange feeling he had. 

 

Gilbert refused to believe that Anne did not have a soulmate. A girl who loved all things romantic could hardly go her whole life without knowing true love herself. It just would not be fair. But that was not the meaning of his strange feeling either.

 

The real meaning of this feeling was that Gilbert had truly hoped that Anne had shared the tiny conker soulmark that he had on his left wrist. She had dozens of freckles, so it was entirely possible that one of them was really a tiny conker like his, but every time he got close enough to look, she snapped at him to "stop _staring_ at me, Gilbert!" and he would have to start all over again. 

 

Gilbert did not lose hope... he was only a bit worried that it was not her after all. 

 

Studying for the Queen's entrance exams meant that Gilbert had many more excuses to spend time with Anne. Whether Anne was pleased about this, Gilbert could not tell. All her energy and focus went into making sure her name placed higher than his when the score list came out in the paper.

 

Anne and Gilbert were the only two in the class that were truly striving for the academic side of college. Many of the other boys and girls in their class saw college as only an opportunity to search for their soulmate in a wider area. Ruby was still convinced that Gilbert was her soulmate, and was planning on studying hard so she could follow him to college and spend lots of time with him there. 

 

As class finished for the day, the students left one by one, until only Gilbert, Anne and Miss Stacy were left in the classroom, packing up the rest of the equipment. 

 

"Anne, I thought you might like to borrow this," Miss Stacy said, handing her a book. "It's all about soulmarks, and you like that sort of thing, don't you?"

 

"Oh, Miss Stacy, I love it!" Anne beamed. "Even if it is cruel of you to give me a soulmark book when you know I haven't got one,"

 

"What do you mean?" she asked. 

 

"I haven't _got_ a soulmark," Anne sighed. "Its just as bad as this awful red hair,"

 

"You do have a soulmark, Anne!" Miss Stacy laughed. "Right behind your left ear. Its a tiny little conker,"

 

"A _what?"_ Gilbert spluttered.

 

"A conker. It's the seed of a horse chestnut tree. The children in England play games with them when they fall off the trees in the autumn,"

 

"Do I really have one?" Anne asked hopefully. 

 

"Yes," Miss Stacy laughed again. "Gilbert, do you see it?"

 

Gilbert walked over, and looked behind her ear and saw it, a tiny little conker, identical to the one he had looked at on his wrist so many times. 

 

Gilbert turned white. He was so shocked and happy that he hardly knew what to do with himself. 

 

"Can you see it?" Anne asked him. 

 

"Um, yes," he said quietly. 

 

"Are you quite alright, Gilbert?" Miss Stacy asked, feeling his forehead for a temperature. 

 

"I'm fine, I just- I should probably go," he stuttered, "Bash... needs help," he said, grabbing his coat and rushing out of the class. 

 

The walk home felt longer than it ever had done. He had so much to think about. Should he have said something to Anne? He definitely should not have run out of there like that. Anne would surely sense something was wrong now, Miss Stacy, too, though something told him that she was already aware of his soulmark. After all, if she had known all this time that Anne had a soulmark, then why would she wait until they were the only ones left in the classroom. 

 

As Gilbert approached the Blythe/La Croix household, he saw Bash working in the field with Mary standing at the fence, watching as he got increasingly annoyed every time she shouted a piece of useless advice. Bash turned and noticed Gilbert walking up the hill, and grinned when he saw his expression. 

 

"What did your Anne do now, huh?" Bash teased. "Breathe in a slightly different way?"

 

Gilbert was still in too much of a state of shock that he could not find the words to answer, so he kept walking. Mary, who was concerned that he had not teased Bash back, asked: "Gilbert? What happened?" 

 

He turned to her, raised his wrist and pointed at the conker soulmark. Bash, who had walked over from where he was working to hear their conversation, started cheering. 

 

"Ha ha! What have I been telling you? She's just as dead gone for you as you are for her!" he cried. "What did she say when you told her?" 

 

"I didn't tell her," Gilbert said.

 

"You _didn't tell her?"_ Mary cried.

 

"She thought she didn't have one, and then Miss Stacy pointed it out, and I was so shocked I didn't know what to do, so I left,"

 

"So she doesn't know its you?" Bash asked. 

 

"No," he replied. 

 

"You have got to tell her, Gilbert," Mary said. 

 

"But I don't want to scare her," Gilbert said quietly. 

 

Bash thumped him on the back. "What's she gonna do, run away? She'll run right back if she's your soulmate,"

 

Weeks passed by, and Gilbert had still not worked up the courage to tell Anne about their soulmarks. Bash teased him relentlessly about it everyday when he arrived home from school, and Mary simply said: "You really _should_ tell her, Gilbert,"

 

One day, as Anne and Gilbert were walking home together after a Queen's study session with Miss Stacy, Anne asked: "What's your soulmark?"

 

Gilbert was so taken aback he could not form words. He simply stood there, a stuttering mess. 

 

"I'm sorry," Anne said. "I know its rude to ask, though I don't really understand why. It just makes it so much more difficult to find out who your soulmate is. I've only known about mine for three weeks and I'm already impatient to know who my soulmate is now that I know _someone_ must be out there for me,"

 

"Who do you think you're looking for?" Gilbert asked. "Someone with a horse chestnut tree?"

 

"No. I will only marry someone with an identical soulmark to mine," she vowed. " _I_ can't see it, but I got Cole to draw me a picture so I can see what it looks like. Anyway, you're avoiding my question. I know everyone else's except for yours. Why don't you want to tell me?"

 

"I _do_ want to tell you, but I'm afraid you wont like it," he said timidly.

 

"Then don't _tell_ me. _Show_ me!" Anne said. 

 

Slowly, Gilbert pulled up his left sleeve and turned his wrist towards her so that she could see more clearly. Realisation swept across her face, as she stared at the soulmark identical to her own. 

 

"Is that identical enough for you?" Gilbert asked. 

 

"I-um..." she spluttered. "I have to go. Marilla- I-um, I should go..." Anne said, running off in the direction, not of Green Gables, but of the Barry's house, presumable to ask Diana if platonic soulmates may exist. 

 

Although there was perhaps not a worse reaction she could have had, Gilbert still smiled to himself as he walked the rest of the way home by himself. 

 

Bash was right. It did not matter if she ran away from him. She was his soulmate; she would run right back.

 


End file.
